Domke F-3X Super Compact bag review
March 13, 2005Domke F-3X is a nice and functional canvas bag for those who like to travel light. Canvas material will look nice after some use, however it also tends to generate dust (small canvas fibres). So you need to wash it now and then, so water will take away this dust for some time. There is also a version of this bag that is made of ballistic nylon instead of canvas, its model number is F-3XB. That nylon version most likely will not wear at all, but on the other hand lacks nice old-school look of canvas.
The bag with some stuff in it.
Now you see its layout. There is basically one big compartment plus 2 canvas dividers that you can’t remove, but they can be folded away if nothing inside. Third padded divider is attached by a velcro strip and can be removed. On this picture you see Nikon FM3A with 24mm lens attached and an additional 35mm lens in other compartment. Third compartment contains a P&S camera. As you can see, there is not much padding in this bag, but it is not a must here, I think. Bottom is padded, though, and that is good. Padding takes usually too much room and even your bag is empty, it will keep the same size as full bag. But not this one, and that is what I like about it. Also, note the zipper inside the flap. It is very well hidden, so you can store some lightweight and flat stuff inside the flap.
Note that the bag is very flexible—if you have a little stuff inside, is has smaller profile. Actually the same contents that are on previous picture. The bag takes contour of your body and that makes is very comfortable to carry.
The bag has 2 side pockets. They are actually quite big, you can even fit a smaller size SLR body here. I would like to see more velcro on back of pocket flaps—currently they do not “stick” properly if empty, you need to help a bit.
I removed Domke advertising from my bag. By design it has Domke logo on each side flap. Not sure why they put red Domke logos on black photographers bag that is targeted to be anonymous and hide your expensive equipment? The same goes to manufacturers as Lowepro and most other as well. This shows they actually don’t have attention to details (designers are far from reality and real world requirements).
Here you see the bag loaded with my daily travel gear: camera body + 2 lens, water bottle, a guidebook, plus more smaller stuff in pockets. This bag is quite functional as a day-bag when travelling, even if you don’t carry (don’t have?) a camera! :).
There is another thin pocket against your body where you can keep your frequently used city map or guidebook. I really like it for carrying a map, however once I have lost one map and I think that probably I had it in this pocket. ;)
Actually the bag you see in these pictures is not very old. It has got perhaps 6 month of heavier use. I have washed it twice. If you buy a new bag (canvas) wash it right away (after removing logos), it will get much nicer look. But as you can see, canvas *will* wear.
Strap is very good, it contains 2 lines of non-slipping rubber material.
That’s it. I’ll probably buy another similar one, this time the nylon version F-3XB. I keep the canvas one for “showing off” and the nylon one for extended travelling in “third world”, where the look is not that important… ;)
Link: Tiffen homepage, they appear to be Domke distributor now.
Update (November 11, 2005), F-3XB report.
I have now ordered the new ballistic nylon model F-3XB. However, this was very big dissapointment as the bag is problematic and not usable to me as is. As you can see from the pictures below (both bags are inside out), the fixed internal dividers are now much shorter and about 5 cm (2 inches) above the bottom of the bag, providing very little protection to gear you have in your bag. As you see, a small prime lens will move from one compartment to another or will rub against your camera.
I’m not sure if I just have one faulty bag or they have “re-designed” the ballistic model. I have sent report along with these pictures to 2 Tiffen e-mail addresses but have not received any reply, which is very sad indeed. If anyone has the new nylon model, you can check this and let us all know your findings. Use the comments form below. Thanks!
There are some more differences between canvas and nylon models. The nylon one has inner compartment under lid covered with mesh and the internal dividers are still made of canvas, not nylon (still contributing to the dust problem, probably). Also bottom outer part of the lid is made of canvas, probably to give a bit of that “used” look.